When, like Apollo, he came forth to warm
Our ears, or like a Mercury to charm.
Nature herfelf was proud of his defigns,
And joy'd to wear the dreffing of his lines
Which were fo richly fpun, and wove fo fit th
As, fince, the will vouchfafe no other wit.
The merry Greek, tart Ariftophanes,

Neat Terence, witty Plautus, now not please;
But antiquated, and deferted lie,
As they were not of nature's family.
Yet muft I not give nature all: Thy art,
My gentle Shakespeare, muft enjoy a part.
For though the Poet's matter nature be,
His art doth give the fashion: And, that he,
Who cafts to write a living line, muft fweat
(Such as thine are) and ftrike the second beati↑
Upon the mufes anvile; turn the fame,
(And himfelf with it) that he thinks to frame,
Or for the laurel he may gain a fcorn;
For a good Poet's made, as well as born.

T

And fuch wert thou. Look how the father's face.
Lives in his iffue, even fo the race

いた

A

Of Shakespeare's mind and manners brightly fhines
In his well torned, and true-fled lines: o bastuody
In each of which he seems to shake a lance,

As brandifh'd at the eyes of ignorance.

Sweet Swan of Avon! what a fight it were

To fee thee in our water yet appear, I on a And make thofe flights upon the banks of Thames, ~~ That fo did take Eliza and our James

But flay, I fee thee in the hemisphere

Advanc'd, and made a conftellation there!

Shine forth, thou farre of Poet's! and with rage,
Or influence, chide, or chear, the drooping ftage:
Which, fince thy flight from hence, hath mourn'd like.

night,

And despairs day, but for thy volume's light.

BEN JOHNSON,

THE

HE attempt to write upon SHAK B

THE
SPEARE is like going into, a large, a

fpacious, and a fplendid dome, through the conveyance of a narrow and obfcure entry. A glare of light fuddenly breaks upon you. beyond what the avenue at firft promifed: and a thoufand beauties of genius and character, like. fo many gaudy apartments pouring at once upon the eye, diffufe and throw themselves out to the mind. The profpect is too wide to come within the compass of a fingle view: 'tis a gay confufion of pleasing objects, too various to be enjoyed but in a general admiration; and they must be feparated, and eyed diftinctly, in order to give the proper entertainment.

And as in great piles of building, fome parts. are often finifhed up to hit the taite of the comm. noiffeur others more negligently put together, to

con

eftrike the fancy of a common and unlearned beholder: Some parts are made ftupendou y magnificent and grand, to furprize with the vaft defign. sand execution of the architect; others are contracted to amufe you with his neatness and elegance in little. So, in Shakespeares we may find Traits that will stand the teft of the fevereft judgment; and ftrokes as carelefsly hit off, to the leveb of the more ordinary capacities: Some defcriptions raised to that pitch of grandeur, as to aftonish you with the compafs and elevation of his thought: and others copying nature within fo narrow, fo confined a circle, as if the author's talent lay only at drawing in miniature.it

In how many points of light muft we be obliged to gaze at this great poet! In how many branches of excellence to confider, and admire him! Whether we view him on the fide of art. or nature, he ought equally to engage our attention: Whether we refpect the force and greatnefs of this genius, the extent of his knowledge and reading, the power and addrefs with which he throws out and applies either nature, or learnfor ing, there is ample fcope both for our wonder and pleafure. If his diction, and the cloathing of his thoughts attract us, how much more must we be charmed with the richness, and variety, of his images and ideas! If his images and ideas fteal into our Souls, and ftrike upon our fancy, how much are they improved in price, when we come.

to reflect with what propriety and juftnefs they are applied to character! If we look into his characters, and how they are furnished and proportioned to the employment he cuts out for them, how are we taken up with the mastery of his portraits! What draughts of nature! What variety of originals, and how differing each from the other! How are they dreffed from the ftores of his own. luxurious imagination; without being the apes of mode, or borrowing from any foreign wardrobe! Each of them are the standards of fashion for themselves like gentlemen that are above the direction of their tailors, and can adorn themfelves without the aid of imitation. If other poets draw more than one fool or coxcomb, there is the fame refemblance in them, as in that painter's draughts, who was happy only at forming a rose: you find them all younger brothers of the famefamily, and all of them have a pretence to give the fame creft: But Shakespeare's clowns and fops come all of a different houfe: they are no farther allied to one another than as man to man, members of the fame fpecies: but as different in features and lineaments of character, as we are from one another in face, or complexion. But I am unawares lanching into his character as a writer, before, I have faid what I intended of him as a private member of the republick.bi bna 20

Mr. Rowe has very justly obferved, that people are fond of difcovering any little perfonal Aory

of

of the great men of antiquity: and that the com mon accidents of their lives naturally become the fubject of our critical enquiries: That however trifling fuch a curiofity at the first view may appear, yet, as for what relates to men of letters, the knowledge of an author may, perhaps,. fometimes conduce to the better understanding his works: And, indeed, this author's works, from the bad treatment he has met with from his editors, have so long wanted a comment, that one would zealoufly embrace every method of information, that could contribute to recover them from the injuries with which they have fo long lain o'erwhelmed,

'Tis certain, that if we have firft admired-theman in his writings, his cafe is fo circumftanced, that we must naturally admire the writings in the man: That if we go back to take a view of his education, and the employment in life which. fortuné had cut out for him, we fhall retain the ftronger ideas of his extenfive genius.

His father, we are told, was a confiderabledealer in wool; but having no fewer than ten children, of whom our Shakespeare was the eldeft, the best education he could afford him was no better than to qualify him for his own Bufiness. and employment. I cannot affirm with any certainty how long his father lived; but I take him. to be the fame Mr. John. Shakespeare who was, living in the year 1599, and who then, in hos

nour.